Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced the development of a technology that turns biometric data, such as palm veins, into a cryptographic key. This newly developed technology enhances the security of the encryption method and protects confidential data, such as IDs and passwords. Conventional technologies that use biometric data to encrypt information require that the biometric data be used as-is when retrieving confidential data.
This means that for confidential data managed in a cloud service, for example, it would be necessary to send the biometric data through the network, raising issues of the network's security. Now, Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a technology that uses randomized numbers, each different, to convert biometric data into a cryptographic key for use in encryption and decryption. This makes it possible to simply and securely manage an individual's confidential data using biometric data, while preventing the unconverted biometric data from passing through the network. Fujitsu Laboratories anticipates that using this technology will make it easier and more convenient to carry out biometric authentication to verify the identity of a person accessing confidential data managed on the Internet.